Due to lackadaisical hitting, the St. Louis Cardinals went down for a second straight night to the San Diego Padres in an extra inning, late night thriller.
The Red Birds lineup managed to get 16 men on base by way of 10 hits and six walks. With that amount of production, it is a wonder how the Cardinals only had one man swipe home plate.
While getting 16 base runners, the struggling lineup also managed to strikeout 16 times, including four from David Freese. Jaime Garcia didn’t strikeout once at the plate and posted a hit while pitching six scoreless from the mound.
The top of the 11th inning was a perfect showcase of the Cardinals’ struggles over the past month. The inning began with a Colby Rasmus single. After Rasmus stole second, Yadier Molina smacked another single to right field, advancing Rasmus to third.
Men on first and third with no outs in the top of the 11th. This is a situation where the St. Louis Cardinals we know, the Birds’ we were expecting to see, would have scored at least one run and finished the game out in the bottom of the inning.
Instead, Skip Schumaker managed to ground into a double play, getting out both Rasums at home and Yadier Molina advancing to third. The inning drastically changed as the Cardinals had a man on first with two outs.
This is a model for our season so far. Poor hitting that contradicts stellar pitching. A night after Adam Wainwright received the loss while posting 13 Ks and allowing just one run, Jaime Garcia’s campaign was cut short after six scoreless innings.
The St. Louis Cardinals have serious issues. It is no longer players going through slumps. It is time for Tony La Russa to sacrifice some sleep and figure this thing out.
Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday and Colby Rasmus have struggled as much as anybody in the month of May. Holliday’s struggles are the most concerning, having just five HR and under 30 RBI. However, this is Pujols’ team. Without an run batted in in the last 12 games, Big Albert needs to step up and help his team get out of the “funk”.
After tonight’s game in San Diego, the Cardinals head to Chicago to take on their division rival Cubs. The month of June will begin with a series against first place Cincinnati, followed by a stint against the Brewers.
NOW, is the time to wake up.
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